Circular knitting needles are well-known in the art. Generally they comprise a pair of needles whose back ends are joined together by a flexible cable. They are especially adapted for and useful in the knitting of tubular products or garments, such as the sleeves or the body of a sweater. In the past difficulties have been encountered in some circular knitting needle assemblies in the knitting performance at the working ends of the needles, and in the storage section of the assemblies. The problem of splitting yarn has been encountered for example at the working ends of the needles, especially when the needle tips are formed with a constant taper from the shank portion of the needle and also when the nose extremity is rounded, or bull nosed, in configuration. The problem of the yarn catching and not moving smoothly along the assembly has been encountered in prior circular knitting needle assemblies at the junction area between the needle and the flexible connecting cable. In some instances a "growth" has developed around the hole in either the needle or the cable which receives the conventional pin which joins the needle to the cable, with the result that the parts work loose and eventually separate before the useful life of the assembly is reached. In addition the wobble of the cable with respect to the connection eventually causes a portion of the edge of the end of the cable to project beyond the abutting end of the needle with the result of an obstruction to the movement of the yarn. This feature is highly irritating to the user since it disturbs the knitting rhythm and can even snag the yarn as it catches on the projecting edges of the joint when the user moves the yarn back and forth, as required, over the joint.